CLEAR LAKE, IOWA – According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Clear Lake has been the biggest lake restoration project the state has done.

Deb Tesar, President of the Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, has this lake sitting very close to her heart.

And she remembers what it used to be like years ago.

“Just remember as a kid swimming in it, you would never see the bottom of the lake ever,” said Tesar.

“I can remember as a kid being able to see down eight feet and we went through a long period of time where there wasn’t possible and now a lot of times especially in the spring or fall we are back to that type of clarity that I remember as a young individual,” said Scott Grummer, a fishery biologist at the DNR.

The hard work done by these two, plus a whole other group of people, is paying off.

And this evening’s annual “Preservation of Clear Lake Picnic”, is meant to bring community members, city workers and county leaders together to celebrate the huge accomplishment of cleaning up this beloved lake.

“It’s really neat to have all that different groups of people come together for the common goal of improving Clear Lake,” said Grummer.

Grummer says he uses this night to teach as well.

“A good opportunity to get an audience of people with great concern about the quality of Clear Lake and its exciting to share information with them and them tell us what they’re seeing out there and what they are enjoying using this resource as well,” said Grummer.

Those involved with the preservation group say having this yearly picnic is a reminder of what consistently needs to be done to keep Clear Lake, clear for future generations.

“There’s always going to be a group of people who don’t know what the best practice are, always going to be some new invasive aquatic, invasive species plant or animal we just really have to be vigilant everyday if we want to be able to maintain our little treasure here,” said Tesar.

The group says they also look at other nearby bodies of water to learn what they want to avoid or practices they may want to try at Clear Lake.